Hell Hath No Fury
by Susannah
Summary: AU What would happen if Tom Riddle had died at the age of fourteen? Sixteen teenagers are plunged into a different world, one where everything that was, no longer is. A few fixed opinions need changing... DG
1. Never Drink and Wander

Disclaimer: Not mine – J.K.Rowling's

**Never drink and wander**

Ron was drunk.

Not just a little drunk, **very** drunk. Like lying-down-still-having-to-hold-onto-the-floor drunk.

He knew there was a good reason for it… he was just a little hazy on what that reason was exactly. It was possibly something to with Hermione. But again, uncertain.

His feet were cold. Maybe he was outside? Maybe he was half in and half out. Was that even possible? Oh yeah. Doorways.

He wished there was someone around. He wasn't sure where he was. Or where he was going. Or where he'd come from come to that. And he had an inexplicable craving for rice pudding.

Ron sat down heavily, slumping almost bonelessly against a wall. Oh look a pretty light, maybe that would help him.

"Do you know," he slurred, "where I should be going?"

The light danced and jumped in his vision. 'Follow me, follow me,' it seemed to be saying.

"If you insist," the redhead garbled, pushing himself up to what he assumed was a vertical position.

Ron staggered after the light, following a meandering path to somewhere dark. It got darker and darker and the Gryffindor lost track of how long he'd been following the waltzing light.

Abruptly, he walked into something solid. He pried his eyes open, unaware that he'd shut them at all. Sunlight burst in, burning his pupils.

"Owww!" he exclaimed, thrashing his arms in irritation. One of his arms came into contact with something that gave way. Bemused, Ron pried one of his eyes open cautiously.

There was a boy standing on one of the edge of what looked like the Astronomy Tower (how had he gotten here?). No the boy wasn't standing, he was balancing. As Ron watched the boy's attempts to balance went wrong as well, and he disappeared from view.

"Be careful!" he shouted after the boy.

With that, the redhead passed dead away.

* * *

"C'mon Ron, wake up, **please**," Hermione's whispered tones slowly began to filter into his consciousness. 

"Whassamatter," he grunted, rubbing his eyes laboriously.

"Harry, he's awake!" Hermione called across the hospital wing.

Ron opened his eyes a crack and squinted at her. Oh, he had the **mother** of all hangovers.

Harry alighted at his right elbow. "Alright mate?" he inquired.

"Could do with some water," Ron rasped. He felt Hermione move and walk away. Something felt wrong Ron realised, something felt very wrong, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"We found you in one of the dungeons, had to use the Marauders Map to do it because it was so hidden away. What were you doing down there?" Harry asked. Even with his eyes shut, Ron could picture his perplexed expression.

"I don't know," the redhead replied, opening his eyes and trying to ignore the throbbing in his skull. "I can't remember much of last night."

Harry nodded sympathetically. "You really shouldn't let the tiffs you and Herm have get to you so much."

Ah yes, it came back to Ron now. His and Hermione had had a fight about N.E.W.Ts and he had ended up in one of the third floor classrooms. But how had he got to one of the dungeons, especially if he was hammered enough not to remember anything now?

Hermione returned with the glass of water, placing it gently into his hand. "I don't know where Madam Pomfrey is," she started, her brows knitting.

Suddenly Ron realised what had seemed so off; there was no background noise. No noise at all in fact.

"Why can't I hear anything?" he asked, taking a long gulp of the water.

"Because there's nothing to hear," the Boy Who Lived replied, pushing his glasses further up his nose. We can't find anyone! No one in the common room, none in the main hall, we even had a quick search for professor Snape – because Hermione had an extra essay for him or something (Harry rolled his eyes) – but no one. Not a soul."

Hermione looked terrified at this prospect.

"Maybe they all just slept in?" Ron asked slowly, doubting it even as he said it. "I mean it is a Sunday after all."

"I don't think you understand, there is no one, _anywhere_," the bushy-haired Gryffindor replied.

Ron rolled sideways until he was in a sitting position. "Let's check the kitchens, even if everyone else is out, the house elves will still be around. And while we're there, we can get some food." As if on cue, his stomach rumbled loudly.

"Good plan," agreed Harry, offering his arm as support. Hermione went quickly around the other side, and together they escorted Ron out of the doors of the Hospital Wing.

* * *

Although Harry and Hermione were right in saying that most of Hogwarts was deserted, they were not completely correct. 

All around the castle a few more students stirred, wondering why they hadn't been woken. Thirteen more students to be exact…

* * *

_On that note, I'm afraid to say I must finish. Because it is very late. Or very early, depending on which way you look at it. But I like this plot. A LOT. So stick around for the next bit :) _

_Reviews are always welcome of course!_


	2. On the Other Hand I Have Different Finge

Disclaimer: I don't own/am not making any profit out of the characters in this story. Some of them I do own, but they are few and far between.

**On the Other Hand... I Have Different Fingers **

Ginny fell out of bed with a large thump.

"Ouch!"

She rolled onto her back and rubbed her eyes. Sunlight filtered the window opposite her, turning her eyelids red. Very slowly she eased herself into a sitting position and surveyed the dormitory.

"Hmmm… where did everybody go?" Her roommates weren't usually up before her, and on the few occasions when they were it was so noisy that she inevitably awoke as well.

Ginny stood briskly, figuring that now she was awake, she may as well do something. She got dressed in a pair of jeans and a loose t-shirt before quickly pulling a hairbrush through her messy red tousles.

She left her room, moving down the staircase. Although everything she was doing felt completely normal - she'd done it thousands of times before – there was something that didn't feel quite right. Something that made her jump at little noises and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up slightly.

The common room was completely deserted, but what confused Ginny was that the chairs were neatly placed at the edges of the room and the fireplace looked freshly cleaned of ashes. It was never clean of ashes! It almost always had a merry fire crackling away.

She hugged her arms to herself nervously, something was dreadfully amiss, where was everyone?

The redhead trailed through the cold and deserted corridors of Hogwarts, feeling out of place, feeling like a lost soul… feeling like the only person left in the world. The castle was different – Ginny was pretty sure that she, herself, hadn't changed, so what had happened? Hogwarts suddenly felt strange and unfamiliar.

She entered the Great Hall with apprehension, wondering what she'd find. But it was empty, just as the rest of Hogwarts was. The four great tables were not present, seeming to make the hall bigger than ever, the ceiling arched high over head, the enchanted sky rolling and scudding with low clouds – tiny patches of blue occasionally visible.

Behind her, Ginny became aware of a slight scuffing noise; shoes shuffling across cold stone. She turned sharply, backing up so her back was to the wall. The noise was coming from the entrance hall, and it seemed to be coming nearer.

* * *

Hermione climbed through the portrait hole and into the kitchens first. Careful not to make any noise, she quickly assessed what around. The kitchens appeared to be deserted as well. She turned and beckoned for Ron to follow. 

The red head clambered awkwardly through, at the last moment catching his toes on the ledge of the step and falling flat on his face (somewhat dramatically in Hermione's opinion).

"Smooth," she remarked, bending to help him up.

Harry scrambled significantly more successfully through the wall, coming to stand on the other side of Ron.

"Where are they all?" he wondered. Moving quietly through the room, he pulled open a couple of cupboards, the first was empty, but the second held three plates, with three slices of bread and three glasses of milk.

He paused before turning to Hermione for the answer (as what usually happened). "How..?" he started in confusion.

But the witch was pulling a genuine blank. "Magic?" she suggested.

"Well, don't question it! Let's start eating," Ron exclaimed as his tummy gave another burst of rumbling.

Ron and Harry quickly lifted the plates and the glasses down, one for each of them. Hermione took hers absently, before moving across curiously to a very small door on the other side of the room. An elf sized door in fact.

The Gryffindor got down carefully on her knees and had a sudden flashback of Alice in Wonderland trying to get through the small door. A smiled graced her features quickly, before her brows narrowed in concentration.

Hermione prised the tiny door open very carefully and peeped through. What she saw made her gasp.

Spreading away from her in a room that was about as long as the Great Hall was wide were about four hundred tiny beds. Each had a tiny goggle-eyed elf sitting on it. The elves were doing a number of things from reading and knitting, to playing cards and some in the corner even appeared to be watching television. Hermione shook her head in disbelief.

Ron and Harry suddenly alighted behind her, making her jump with a little gasp. Abruptly all the elves froze, and in unison looked in their direction.

* * *

Ginny pressed close to the wall as the footsteps neared, she was almost flat against the wall directly adjacent to the doorway. She would have the element of surprise on her side at least. 

Suddenly, a figure strode through the archway, a black coat billowing menacingly behind them.

"_Expelliarmus!_" she shouted as they walked away, hoping against hope that she wasn't about the curse Professor Snape. The person's wand flew into her hand, and they were blown backwards across the hall. "_Locomotor Mortis."_ (Just to be on the safe side.)

The figure writhed on the floor before scrambling rather comically to its feet which caused an onslaught of somewhat hysterical giggles from Ginny. She blamed it on the stress of having no one to talk to, or in fact see, since she'd woken up.

"Find it funny do you?" snarled a familiar voice from the now stolid 'attacker'.

"Dammit Malfoy, you scared me!"

"Hello, I'm the one with my legs locked together here; I think I'll be the one complaining." The Slytherin prince sounded very pissed off.

"_Finite Incantatem," _Ginny muttered, waving her wand lazily. "Y'know of all the people left, it just had to be you didn't it?"

"Yeah I'm not exactly over the moon either Weasley. I mean, I've dreamt many times that all the Gryffindors would just disappear, but this just sucks. I'll have my wand back too."

The redhead blinked. She'd never heard him say so much at one go before, least of all to her. Maybe the isolation was getting to him too. She threw his wand back to him without thinking.

"Where were you going anyway?" she asked, her voice echoing eerily.

"To the kitchens. I was hungry."

Ah, there we go. The monosyllabia and iciness was back.

"What happens if we're the only one's left in the castle?"

"Then we hope we're not the only ones left in the world," he shot back. "Because there is no way I'm procreating with you!" With that, he turned and strode meaningfully away.

Ginny paused a second, on the one hand she really didn't want to follow him just to be cut down again and again... on the other hand he was the only person she'd met so far and she really didn't fancy continuing to hopelessly wander the corridors of Hogwarts alone like a lost soul when even the Hogwart's ghosts weren't around.

She took off running after his departing figure.

* * *

_Thank you to Sabine Strohem-Moss my one and only reviewer so far, and - coincidentally - the newest member of the C2 community I manage. It's been updated, if anyone has the time, they should really check it out... (Moi? Scrounging for subscribers? Don't be so rididulous!) _

_Anyway, I hope people drop a note to say what they think - otherwise how WILL I improve?! So you see really, it's for YOUR benefit. Moving along, I will stop babbling now. Hope you liked it!_


	3. What Time Do You Call This?

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of his friends. Or in fact any of his enemies.

**What time do you call this?**

"Do you actually know where you're going?"

Sam swung around irritatedly. "Of course I do, doesn't it look like I do?" he gestured airily to the dark tunnel they were presently travelling through.

"No," replied Luna pleasantly. "Maybe we should retrace our steps?"

"Yeah if you want to go backwards," Sam muttered.

"Give it a rest Fawcett," said Michael Corner from the front of the small procession. He turned to look at the two girls and Sam. "Crossroads. Left or right Sam?"

"Um," the sandy-haired boy paused to think. "Right, I think."

"See you _don't_ know!" exclaimed Sally-Anne, knitting her dark brows.

"Calm down Sal," Sam assured. "Even if I get it wrong, the worst place we'll end up is the kitchens."

"But this place is different. Can't you feel it? It doesn't even feel like Hogwarts." The dark-haired Ravenclaw clutched her arms to herself nervously.

"Where's the Ravenclaw cool we're famed for?" Luna asked absently, watching the flickering torch in Michael's hand with bright eyes.

Sam shot her a strange look before rolling his eyes. "C'mon lets keep moving, we want to get back to the common room before everyone else comes back from… wherever they are."

"Where are they though?" Luna shook blonde hair out of her eyes. She didn't want an answer; she just wanted the others to think about the question.

"Don't know," muttered Sam. Of all the people that they had to be stuck with, it just had to be Loony Lovegood didn't it? Oh well, maybe she'd wander off into that bizarre world she always dreamt about.

The four Ravenclaws fell into silence once more, travelling single file along the passageway. Michael went first, bearing the torch, and then Sally-Anne, looking accountably nervous, Luna followed next, trailing with misty eyes, and Sam bought up the rear, giving Luna a wide berth.

They reached the end of the corridor, finding a small hatch in which to climb through.

"Here, look, the kitchens," announced Sam, smugly.

"But we wanted to go to the _library,_" Sally-Anne said slowly. "Where are all the house elves anyway?" The three students looked around confusedly. Luna, on the other hand, picked up a glass interestedly.

"Harry Potter was here," she announced. "And so was Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley," she added, glancing at the other two empty glasses.

Michael, Sam and Sally looked at her strangely; she was a very bizarre person. "How do you kn-"

At that point there was a thump and raised voices from the adjoining corridor. The Ravenclaws, including Luna, hurried through the portrait hole into the outside corridor, wondering what they would find.

Ron had Draco pinned against the wall. "Take that back!" he bellowed.

"Temper, temper, Weasley," the tall blonde mocked.

"Ron, calm down," Ginny squeaked from the sidelines, but neither of the boys paid the slightest attention. "Look before we all get detention…"

As if on cue, heavy steps came cascading down a nearby corridor. "Now we're in for it," Hermione muttered, fixing Ron with a death look.

The four Ravenclaws looked at each other, unsure whether it was a good idea to stick around. They stayed though, there was nothing like a good drama to kick off the day.

Draco pushed Ron's hands off him in disgust. "There goes the cleaning bill," he snapped. Ron's ears went pink and one of his eyes twitched slightly but he managed to restrain himself.

A very crazy-looking Pansy, closely followed by Blaise Zabini and a fifth year that Draco didn't recognise, catapulted around the corner.

"It's McGonagall!" Pansy panted as the skidded to a vague stop in front of the gathered students. "She's gone mad! The whole world's gone mad!"

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked curiously, Sally-Anne nodded her head as well, mentally asking the question.

"I wasn't talking to you, mudblood lover," Pansy spat, finally recovering her breath.

Draco mentally rolled his eyes. The sun would always rise in the east and Pansy would always be bitchy. "What do you mean?" he asked, repeating the younger Gryffindor.

But any answer that Pansy could have given was cut off by the recognisable form of Minerva McGonagall herself storming around the corner.

"Heavens above! There are so many!" she exclaimed. "What do you think you are _doing_ here? Honestly, no manners… what a cheek! And Weasley! _Malfoy!_ I should have _guessed!_ A complete disrespect for the rules, as ever!" she took a breath before continuing. The gathered Slytherins, Gryffindors and Ravenclaws listened without comprehension. "How _dare_ you… I just can't believe it! And so many! I always thought… but never would have guessed. Oh you will all be _punished_ for this!"

The head of Gryffindor house was beside herself with rage and the group of students were still clueless. What was she talking about?

"Do you have anything to say in your defence?" she demanded, tapping her foot impatiently. Her neat bun was beginning to become unravelled as she had shaken her head so much during the rant. None of the students had ever seen her this angry before.

"Well, Professor," Hermione begun in a very small voice, treading lightly even though McGonagall was her favourite teacher. "When we awoke there was no one around anywhere… so we came to the kitchens... and then the house elves were unhelpful. Being a Sunday…" she trailed off as the professor seemed to get angrier with every word.

"That's enough from you Kathryn," she snapped "I know as much as I'll ever need to. The headmaster's office _now. _And no talking!" The formidable student glared them into submission and they moved in the direction she was pointing.

"Kathryn?" Harry mouthed at her in confusion from the front of the silent procession. Hermione shrugged, as confused as he was.

"I said no talking, Potter!" the transfiguration teacher barked from the rear. Harry frowned. Something was very, very wrong.

The twelve students continued in silence, even the Slytherins didn't dare to make eye contact until they reached the familiar gargoyle guarding the staircase to Dumbledore's office.

"Fizzing Whisbees," McGonagall snapped, moving to the front. The gargoyle came to life and jumped elegantly to one side in a movement of liquid stone. The stone doors rolled away to reveal the narrow staircase. This was nothing special to Harry, Hermione and Ron as they'd been there many times before, but the Ravenclaws hitched simultaneous breaths. "Up. Now." The Professor's pinched face was hard and unforgiving.

The students climbed the stairs in twos, Ginny and Hermione going first and Blaise and Draco coming last.

They filed into the office in twos as well, only just managing to fit into the room. The portraits goggled at them curiously, crossing from one portrait to the next and whispering.

"Stay silent," McGonagall commanded. "I shall go and find Professor Dumbledore." She exited the room, but not before giving them one final glare.

"Look what you've got us into now," Draco snarled, looking directly at Harry.

Ginny looked up. "It was hardly Harry's fault."

"No it was all of your faults," the blond continued, his voice dripping with malice. "This school is brought down by the likes of you."

"Whatever Malfoy," Hermione replied keeping an admirable calm. "I don't know, but I think she was actually angry about us being there at all."

Sally-Anne and Sam nodded in agreement. "Yes," Sam said. "I think that it had nothing to do with the fighting, although she really seems to hate you two," he gestured towards Ron and Draco.

The blonde Slytherin shrugged and Ron frowned. Harry looked around at the add assortment if students. Ginny and Michael Corner were whispering in the… well, corner, Blaise Zabini stood a little way away from the rest of the Slytherins where Pansy was pawing Malfoy and he was looking disgusted. Luna appeared to be attempting to have a discussion with one the portraits, the younger Slytherin, a dark haired fifth year who Harry racked his brains to name was standing to one side and Sally-Anne Perks was trying to make conversation with her, somewhat unsuccessfully.

McGonagall strode back in and the students immediately silenced in caution. Professor Dumbledore followed rather more sublimely, shuffling across to his high-backed seat. Harry thought he'd never seen him look so old.

"Now, now, what do we have here?" the silver-bearded wizard questioned, his eyes were unfamiliar as they stared at Harry; there was confusion but not recognition, and the light that usually danced there appeared not to exist.

"Troublemakers and lawbreakers," McGonagall replied. "In my opinion, they should all be expelled."

The twelve students burst into whispers indignantly.

"And I would be inclined to agree with you," said Dumbledore, eyeing each student in turn. Harry's jaw dropped, he wouldn't… would he? "Had it not been for the fact that they are not our students."

McGonagall started. "Of course they are! Look, this is -" she gestured to Hermione "- Kathryn, and that is –"

"Look again Minerva," Dumbledore commanded, cutting her off.

The transfiguration professor glanced at Hermione briefly before doing another, longer, double take. "Good grief, who are you?"

"Hermione," she replied slowly, eyes wide in confusion.

"But we don't… have any Hermiones…"

The headmaster nodded his head in agreement. "How did you come to be here, and where are you from?" he asked.

The separate houses exchanged looks with each other. "Where's 'here'?" the unknown Slytherin, Ginny and Sally-Anne asked in union.

There was silence while no one had an answer, not even Dumbledore. "It's Hogwarts," Ron tried, blushing slightly as every gaze swivelled to rest on him.

"Not as we know it," Sam muttered.

"Where are the Hufflepuffs then?" Dumbledore asked, taking them off-balance, his bright blue eyes running over the badges on their robes.

"What makes you think...?" Draco questioned.

"Well, four of each house," Hermione pondered aloud. "I suppose it makes sense for there to be four Hufflepuffs left as well."

"Four left over from what?" Ginny asked, as the others burst into questions as well.

"Why us?"

"Where's everyone else?"

"How did we get here?"

"Where _is_ here?"

The headmaster held his hand up, effectively producing silence. "All very good questions to be sure, but first we must locate the whereabouts of the Hufflepuffs. The castle is not as safe as it once was, especially not before the students arrive tomorrow."

"Why, where do they go?" Michael asked, unable to keep the question to himself.

"Home for the weekend of course," McGonagall replied briskly, eyeing them all warily. "The students only board during the week _usually_."

Twelve mouths opened in question. "Later," Dumbledore quickly injected. "Hufflepuffs first. Ravenclaws, I'm sorry, I do not know your names, you search the dungeons and the first two floors. Check the greenhouses too, just to be on the safe side," he added as an afterthought. "Slytherins, you take the top two floors, check both towers and try to avoid knocking over the memorial. Gryffindors, you can take the middle three floors and library." He paused to look at them all. "Be careful, all of you, and try to be back here within the hour."

The students filed out mostly in silence, but the Slytherins still found the opportunity to mutter about the unimportance of Hufflepuffs.

After they had gone, Minerva slumped into the chair opposite Dumbledore. "Albus, what on earth is happening?" she asked.

He smiled a secretive smile and linked his fingers. A little light danced in his pupils, one that she had not seen for a long time. "Well, they've gone away to answer all the questions that I am not able to and we are left with a little peace and quiet before the chaos begins." He got up and rustled through one of his desk draws which – Minerva noted with disapproval – was a mess. "Liquorice stick?" he offered.

* * *

_Responses_

_Sabin Strohem-Moss - thank you so much for reviewing both chapter! It's the only thing that kept this story going! I hope you liked this chapter as well :)_

_Rubber-duckiesofdoom - nice name by the way. And good place to insert the dramatic music. There is, of course, more drama on the way. Hehe_

_xx Susannah xx _


	4. Forget Praying We Need a Miracle

Disclaimer: Nothing of Harry Potter belongs to me. Only the plot.

**Forget praying – we need a miracle.**

The Slytherins climbed the stairs silently, one behind the other. Draco came to a stop on the top of the sixth floor corridor, thankful that the staircases hadn't switched whilst they travelled there. He heard, rather than saw, Blaise, Pansy and the Slytherin whose name he was uncertain of.

"Name?" he demanded somewhat unceremoniously.

"Daphne. Daphne Greengrass," her head bobbed in time as she answered.

"Right. Ok then, Daphne, you take the sixth floor on the left wing of the school, Pansy, you take the right. Zabini and I will go to the seventh floor and I'll take the left and him the right. Meet back at the Astronomy tower in an hour. Don't bother looking in every classroom, they are only Hufflepuffs after all," he finished, looking expectantly at them.

The two older Slytherins nodded, they were used to following orders from the almighty-Draco-Malfoy. Daphne however looked a little uncertain. "What do we do if we run into something bad?"

Draco rolled his eyes. He didn't know where they were but if he was stuck with a drip like this Daphne girl appeared to be, it could be a very long time.

* * *

"Put your wands into the centre," Hermione commanded. Ron, Harry and Ginny complied. "Now we're going to stick together, but in case we get separated this spell will be of use."

"What does it do?" Harry asked curiously, watching the wands glowing slightly where their tips touched.

"It works a bit like a four-point spell, but slightly different. Instead of pointing north on command, if you say one of the person's names whom it's been joined with then it should point in their exact direction," the brown-haired witch explained. "_Convergo,"_ she muttered.

The four wands peaked with a burst of light, before returning to their normal state. Ron watched his carefully. Small beads of light emitted from the end of his wand at intervals.

"So it's like a… tracking spell?" Ginny asked, watching her wand as well.

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "Just more specified."

"So, where first?" Ron asked, scratching his head dazedly.

"The library, I guess," Hermione replied. "It's as good a place as any."

Ginny fell into step next to the brown haired Gryffindor, and two boys paired up behind them.

"The library, who would have guessed," Ron mumbled. "Who died and made her queen anyway?"

"No one, she was always been in charge," Harry replied, in an equally low voice.

"I can hear you!" Hermione called over her shoulder.

Both boys started, before a fond smile crossed their faces.

"So where do you think we are?" the redhead asked, trailing his fingers absently along the cold stone of the wall.

"Well," Harry pondered. "It's certainly Hogwarts, but different… colder. If it wasn't so far-fetched I'd say we were in the past or the future or something. But that's too crazy – even for us."

Ron considered this for a second. "I guess we'll find out soon enough. What do you mean 'even for us' anyway?"

"Just that seven years ago I didn't know such a thing as magic even existed, and then I was suddenly plunged into this weird world of incredible things. Who's to say that wizards can't time travel as well?"

"Because of all the paradoxical consequences! It was outlawed at the beginning of the twelfth century and the punishment was a Dementor's Kiss, just _because_ it was so dangerous!"

Harry raised an amused eyebrow. "I think that Hermione has had a definite effect on you."

Ron blushed but managed to shrug it off. "Well you can't spend seven years with her and not be effected."

"Tell me something I don't know," Harry agreed.

The four students continued along the corridor to the library, unaware of the dark shapes that haunted the shadows they left behind.

* * *

The Ravenclaws stood at the entrance to the dungeons. Everything was pitch-black, as far as they could see in every direction.

"Why are there no candles?" Sally-Anne asked, trying to keep the squeak out of her voice.

"Maybe Snape isn't about," Sam shrugged. "Which is good news," he added. "Well, how about we split up into pairs and cover the dungeons as quickly as possible?"

Sally-Anne shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. I mean look at it," she gestured to the surrounding darkness. "We'll all get hopelessly lost!"

"No, Sam's right, we need to divide into pairs or we'll be here forever. Think about it logically," he told the dark-haired girl.

"_Lumos Complate,"_ Luna announced, making them all jump. Her wand tip light up light a spotlight, blindingly bright in the dark.

"Cool," Sam said absently.

"Right then, Sam you can go with Luna and Sally-Anne and I will go in a pair. "If you get into trouble, send a warning beam and put up a strong shield until we come and find you."

Sam, Michael and Sally set their wand tips alight with the _Lumos_ spell as well before advancing forwards to the first fork in the corridor.

"Why do you hate me?" Sam muttered to Michael, gesturing to Luna.

He shrugged. "Luck of the draw?"

* * *

Draco was bored and indignant. He couldn't decide which one he felt more. What right did Dumbledore have to send him on an errand around the school to find _Hufflepuffs_ of all people? As far as he was concerned they could be lost forever, along with the Gryffindors. Ravenclaws he could deal with, as long as they did everything he told them to.

Ah, the Hufflepuffs weren't around here anywhere, maybe he should just go straight to the Astronomy Tower entrance. He looked as far as he could down each corridor, before making up his mind to go directly to the meeting place.

The Slytherin seventh year was bored of this silent school, with its shadows and draughts. At least when it was bustling with students these things were never noticed, even if Draco rarely agreed with any of them. If he was brutally honest, the place kind of spooked him… it was just so quiet.

He climbed the stairs to the Astronomy Tower ledge wondering if he was the first to finish his 'patrol'. If everything was how it used to be, the corners of the stairs and just inside the doorway would be littered with couples pushing their luck. Draco smirked, remembering a few experiences of his own.

He pushed the door open, only to be faced with a man. Draco froze, was it Blaise? And if not, who could it be. They were standing so still, almost like a… statue. What was it Dumbledore had said? A Memorial of some kind… maybe this was it. The Slytherin let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding.

The moonlight from the open window slid across the room in strong beams, some falling across the statue. It illuminated a plaque beneath the stone feet; Draco moved forwards to read it.

'_In memory of Tom Riddle, a respected and devoted student, R.I.P.'_

"Tom Riddle?" Draco questioned himself softly. "Why does that ring a bell?" he moved to the window that overlooked Hogwarts towers and dips. The moon was shining brightly down; it seemed to bounce off the fog that twisted itself around the looming precipices of the school. The effect was stunning, and humbling, even for Draco Malfoy.

"No Hufflepuffs anywhere," announced a voice from the door. Draco looked up to find the Daphne girl looking at him.

He nodded once, sharply, before turning back to wrack his brains on whom Tom Riddle was.

"This is the memorial then," the younger girl said aloud. "Tom Riddle? Wasn't that Voldemort's real name?" Draco spun around, leaning his arms back with his fingers clutching the window sill. His knuckles were white

"Of course," he muttered. "That's why it rings a bell. When does it say he died?" he asked the girl briskly.

"It doesn't. Oh, but it does say he was fourteen at the time." She looked up, catching sight of the look on Draco's face. "What does this mean?"

"What does it mean?" Draco exclaimed. "What does it mean? It means that Voldemort never existed; it means that my father – our fathers – probably never crossed over into evil. It means that hundreds of muggles and muggleborns lived instead of died. It means that Harry Potter isn't famous!" he paused for thought, before voicing the last – and most important – consequence. "It means that we, you, I, Pansy, the golden trio, all of us, might not actually exist."

* * *

"There you are!" Ginny exclaimed, running through the stacks.

Four Hufflepuffs were gathered sleepily around a table in the far corner. Harry, Hermione and Ron followed, somewhat slower.

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked, looking warily around the dark and rather forbidding library.

Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott looked at them as though they were God's grace. "There _are_ other people around! See we're not the only ones," she said to the other three. Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley rolled their eyes, but they looked quite pleased as well.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, echoing Ron's question.

"Well we realised there was no one else in any part of the Hufflepuff rooms so we came to the library to see if we could find any answers. Why where have you been?" Justin asked.

"Dumbledore," Harry answered slowly. "And have you found anything?"

"Yes," Ernie told him tersely. He held out a newspaper clipping for Harry to read. The Boy Who Lived skimmed it quickly, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"What is it?" asked Ginny, trying to read it over his shoulder.

Harry handed the slip of newspaper to her and Hermione and Ron crowded around as well. Ginny finished before the other two, she looked at Harry incredulously. "So… _he_ never lived here? Well, not for long anyway."

"Apparently not," Justin chimed in, taking in the Gryffindors' reactions.

"But that means… so much," Hermione gasped, reeling from all the possibilities. "How can we have got here?"

"I don't know," Harry replied, still trying to get his around the fact that Tom Riddle had never turned into Voldemort.

Ron on the other-hand remembered the night before (had it only been then? It seemed like a year) and black-haired boy in his dream. Or, well, he assumed his hazy visions were a dream… he wasn't sure. What if it had been real?

* * *

_Big thank yous to my reviewers Elle Blessingway and Sabine Strohem-Moss, you keep reading and I'll keep writing!_

_So c'mon guys drop me a note to say what you thought. A few reviews go a long way to ensuring an update! Pretty please? xx Susannah xx _


	5. Is That a Wand? I

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I merely like to play in Harry Potter's world.**  
**

**Is that a wand in your pocket…? (Part I)**

When the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs made their way back to Dumbledore's office they arrived to find that the Slytherins were already there and looking categorically bored, in a very Slytherin-ish way.

They probably don't know then, Ginny presumed. The Gryffindors approached in silence, the only sign that the Slytherins had seen them at all was a flickering of eyelids.

Ginny felt the Hufflepuffs move unconsciously behind the Gryffindors as though seeking a hiding place from the glares of the Slytherins. The three separate houses stood in silence, carefully avoiding eye-contact across the room.

The door creaked slowly open to admit a teacher whom it took them all a few seconds to recognise. His skin was still pale but not to the point of sallowness, his hair still lank but not quite as greasy and the most noticeable difference were his eyes; dark, a reserved quality for sure, but not as cold, not dead. Indeed, Professor Snape seemed almost entirely a different man except, of course, for the familiar smirk marring his features.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" He surveyed the room furtively his eyes falling on their faces in turn. Finally, seemingly content with their unworthiness of his time, he sneered spitefully. "Welcome to Hogwarts, I hope you feel at home." Snape gestured aimlessly, unintentionally revealing an unblemished left fore-arm.

Harry, Hermione and Ron exchanged surprised glances. It was going to take time for them to become accustomed to this change in circumstances.

"A Weasley, Granger and… a Potter… hmm, now this is a combination that I never thought I would ever see." Harry started at the obvious surprise in the Potion Master's voice. He looked up into the black eyes of the man he'd hated vehemently for most of his Hogwarts career and was startled to find them surveying him with respect, fondness even.

Where was this place they'd been sent!

At that moment Dumbledore appeared, with Professor McGonagall at his elbow. "Ah," he said, "I see Professor Snape has been acquainting himself with you all. I think these students will need all the defence against the dark arts you can give them Severus," he added conversationally.

The students exchanged glances again. Severus Snape? Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher? No wonder this school – world – whatever – was doomed. Draco Malfoy frowned slightly at this new turn of events, especially at the vaguely amiable glance Snape had sent Harry.

"I see we have the Hufflepuffs," Dumbledore continued. "But where are the Ravenclaws?" The Gryffindors shrugged, the Hufflepuffs stayed silent and the Slytherins reverted to looking definitively bored.

At that exact moment Sam, Michael, Sally-Anne and Luna appeared in the doorway, the first three huddled very close, the latter continuing to stare into space as was customary. They looked like they'd seen a ghost; in fact Sally-Anne looked very close to tears. When they saw the Hufflepuffs they sighed in relief, but still looked edgily around the room as though expecting to be jumped out at at any moment.

The Gryffindors swapped intrigued looks for the third time in nearly as many minutes. Harry resolved to ask them about it later, he wondered if they knew about Tom Riddle – Voldemort – yet. It would take a long time to get used to; he contemplated the consequences of Voldemort's death, still not quite being able to comprehend just how many things must have changed.

"Well since you're all here, we shall begin." Professor Dumbledore pushed his glasses up his nose, looking rather older than Harry had ever seen him. He produced a scroll and quill which Harry recognised as being similar to the one Rite Skeeter used to write her notes about him. Setting them upright on the desk, the headmaster surveyed them all thoughtfully. "If I could have your name, house and year please," he indicated.

Sally-Anne stuttered out her name first and they went around the group ending with Daphne Greengrass, the Slytherin fifth year whom Harry hadn't recognised.

"Interesting," the headmaster said, looking at the list. "Very interesting."

"Sorry Sir, "Hermione started. "But what's interesting?"

"Well you see Miss Granger, a lot of these surnames you have given me, we already have at this school but with different forenames attached and, no doubt, different personalities."

There was a clamour of noise as the students went into uproar, firing questions loudly at each other, the teachers and generally anyone who would listen. Dumbledore gestured for quiet while professors Snape and McGonagall merely looked on disapprovingly at the noise.

"We know what's different, Sir," Draco Malfoy's voice came out coldly above everyone else's. A lot could be said about him, but he had a presence that demanded attention when he wished to say something. "We know how this… _place…_ differs from our own. But if this can have happened in the first place, then there must be a way of reversing it."

"What is this change you speak of?" Professor Snape asked coldly.

Draco met his eyes uncertainly before continuing. "In the Astronomy Tower there was a memorial to a student, Tom Riddle, who died when he was fourteen. In our world this never happened." He spoke almost triumphantly expecting the other students to know nothing of this revelation but quickly hid his disappointment when no one appeared shocked.

Dumbledore nodded. Harry was surprised to see that this piece of information fazed him little. How could he have known? The question hung prominently in Harry's mind. Yes, Dumbledore was very powerful but he couldn't know everything, could he?

"Yes, well, until we find a way to send you back to your 'world'" the headmaster continued, "you shall continue your education here, no doubt learning the same things you would have learnt in your own time. I shall put my energies into finding out how this could have happened."

Harry glanced quickly around at his friends faces. Hermione was nodding sombrely in agreement, but no one else looked very happy. "How will you explain in to the other students though?" he asked curiously.

"Yes," agreed Michael, "because if, as you say, there are people here of the same surnames as us… doesn't that make them – technically – our brothers or sisters? Or… _us_… as we would have been in different circumstances?" He shook his head as though trying to make sense of it all.

"It is a little confusing isn't it?" Dumbledore agreed mildly. But Harry could see an almost mischievous twinkle behind his glasses but it vanished as quickly as it came leaving him to wonder if it had been his imagination. "The students in this school question little," he told them. "They are too wrapped up in themselves and their own disputes to wonder about anything." Harry detected disappointment in his voice and wondered at it. "However, I think it is best if we find each of you a different name and various glamours to hide obvious parts of your identities." His eyes strayed to Ron's hair and Harry's eyes.

"And what? Just let us loose in a world where we have no idea what to do, or how things are?" Draco exclaimed impolitely. "Where will we sleep? What houses will we be in?" He almost followed it up with a 'my father will hear of this' but caught himself just in time.

"Mr Malfoy," Snape addressed him coolly. "The headmaster has no doubt thought about these things. Unless you'd like to go and live in the Forbidden Forest I suggest you hold your tongue."

Dumbledore continued as though the interruption had not happened. "I think it would be most appropriate for you to stay in the same houses you are at the moment." The old wizard looked around as though to see if anyone had a problem with this, he seemed slightly surprised when they did not. "We have a room on the top floor known as the Room of Requirement, where I'm sure you will find comfortable quarters for each of you. You will be visited individually by the heads of your houses and given your pseudonyms and specific glamours which you will need to wear at all times."

Although they each burned with unanswered questions, his word seemed to be final and he moved aside so that they could file out of the door. The students moved in silence to the seventh floor, the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws clumped together, seeking safety in numbers. The Slytherins stood apart at the back seeming nearly as cold to each other as they were towards the other houses.

On his way out Harry noticed the twinkle dancing in Dumbledore's eye. It was almost as if he was happy to see them despite the inexplicable circumstances. Almost as if he wanted them here. Harry wrinkled his brow… so maybe they weren't here by accident… maybe for a reason.

* * *

"Ah, Potter," McGonagall looked at him curiously over her glasses as he entered the small interview room that had been set up. She glanced down at her list. "Harry, is it?" she checked rhetorically. 

Harry nodded. It was weird; he'd known the professor since he was eleven and she barely recognised him.

She surveyed him critically looking from his scar and glasses to his lanky but slim frame. "Well I'll have to change your eye colour," she muttered. "Can't have you looking too similar to Dwayne…"

"Who?" he asked even as she took his glasses off and began waving her wand experimentally.

"Dwayne Potter," she said. "He must be… the same age as you, possibly a little older. You look very similar."

"I have a brother?" Harry asked in shock. He hadn't really thought about it, but now that he did, he was overwhelmed. It meant that his parents were… alive. He felt a sensation in his chest, something strong and all-consuming. Much like his heart was bursting.

"Oh, yes, I suppose you could call him that." The witch frowned slightly seemingly as at a loss for the situation as Harry himself was. "You have a 'sister' as well," she continued. "Eloise Potter. Exceptionally bright girl," she added.

The Boy Who Lived was speechless, and happier than he ever remembered being. He had _family_ and he'd be able to meet them! He'd be able to see his parents and fulfil his dearest desire, as shown to him by the Mirror of Erised. In a heartbeat he didn't care if they never returned home.

The Transfiguration Professor smiled at his dumbstruck expression. "Right, well you won't be needing glasses whilst you have this glamour on." She held up a mirror for him and he found himself staring into unfamiliar blue eyes. "We have decided to keep your forenames, but if anyone asks your surname either avoid the question or tell them – she checked her list again – 'Mason'. If the glamour becomes uncomfortable at all, please come and see me again." She gestured for him to go and he complied, still feeling as though he was in a dream.

Once all the Gryffindors had been to see McGonagall they sat in the small sleeping quarters allotted to them within the vast series of rooms the Room of Requirement had become. They sat in stunned silence.

Harry's wasn't the only appearance which had changed; Hermione now had glasses and freckles, Ron's hair had been changed from the autograph red to a light brown and Ginny had reappeared without freckles and her own red hair had been darkened from the natural orange tint to being much darker and nearer brown. Although in each case the change was only minimal, they were things that Harry automatically associated with the person, and so, looking at them now, he felt as though he barely knew the people around him.

Except of course that Hermione was itching to get to the library and read about everything that had happened in the last fifty years. Ron was muttering because he had been told that he had two twin sisters in Ravenclaw and a younger brother in Hufflepuff. Ginny was excited for the same reasons.

"I've never had Weasley girls to talk to before!" she kept exclaiming happily.

Harry wondered how the other houses were getting on, and if he would actually recognise them when he saw them again. He also thought about the next day; Monday, when the students would return. They'd all been given their timetables, which pretty much matched in the cases of Harry, Ron and Hermione; Ginny of course was the year below and would be spending the time on her own with the sixth years: she had looked quite terrified at the prospect. They still weren't entirely sure how Dumbledore was going to introduce them either.

The black-haired boy felt a mixture of anticipation and trepidation about the next day, mainly because he didn't know what to expect. How different could this world really be?


End file.
